China/India/Africa 2010/2011

The End of the Long Journey

2011-05-25T12:06:00.000+08:00

As the English Proverb goes, "All good things must come to an end". Well, we knew this fun blog and travel adventure was going to have to end at some point and this will be the final entry. However sad it is to be at the endpoint, it also signifies a new beginning. For example, I have just finished my resume updating and will soon begin a serious search for employment. I am fortunate that I can take the time to do a proper search without worry and will, hopefully, be able to find something that is challenging, mentally stimulating and in the location where I want to spend the next few years. Of course, I am already packing for my next trip, but more on that later.

We were planning to return to the U.S. by 5/9 so I could attend my niece's graduation from Penn State followed by my daughter, Marissa's, graduation from Boston University. Since we had a week to ease our way back into Western life, we chose to visit the Cotswold area, west of London and then Bath. We arrived at Heathrow Airport in the early hours of 5/2, rented a car and explored life in England for the week.

The Cotswold area is comprised of small towns and villages in a large area with lots of farms, rolling hills, old buildings, castles and other beautiful scenery. As it was Springtime, many plants and trees were beginning their annual blooming process. Several times, we commented on how nice it would be to rent or own one of these older homes in these quaint villages, of course, the wrong side of the road driving and my inability to understand the locals' version of English are big negatives.

Here are some of the photos taken during our self-guided tour...

Then there's the delightful British sense of humor. I'm sure some of these might be repeats of things seen here but they made me chuckle nonetheless...

(For some reason, I always think of my friend, Karen Coakley, when I read this last one.)

I know they're not Seinfeld quality comedy but that got pretty played out and this is the best I could find in England. I appreciate all of the wonderful heartfelt comments, suggestions and advice you have shared with me during these last 9(!) months and I have been thrilled to share my once in a lifetime experience with you through my blog writing and photos. I will be doing more things with the blog output either in book or professional slideshow format in the coming months.

Of course, once you take this kind of adventure, you get the feeling you want to do more, so fearful that I'll get pulled back into the corporate world soon and not have a chance to repeat this kind of trip, I'm planning another trip right away. This one will take me from Seattle to Boston by car through the Paloose of Washington, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Wild Horse areas in wyoming and Montana , The Badlands in South Dakota, etc. This trip will be with a photography friend of mine, Edmund, whom I've traveled with each of the last two summers. The African trip was 75 days and is a real test of marital harmony so we both welcome being back home and having more personal space.

You just never know where I'll end up. Thanks again for all the support

Steve

Musings and observations about life abroad

2011-05-20T03:04:00.005+08:00

Since it has been an unplanned nine month hiatus from life in the U.S., I'd like to share some thoughts about what I have experienced and observed...

China - The economy is on fire. The Chinese are embracing capitalism as though they have been waiting for it for a long time. People are changing jobs very quickly with little to no loyalty to their employer while at the same time being dedicated and tireless workers when employed. I know this seems in conflict but it is what's going on. Automobiles are a big status symbol and everyone wants to drive which has caused a lot of traffic congestion. The Chinese are aware of what's going on in the rest of the world but have particular interest in the U.S. for styles, autos, latest hot things to do or say, sports teams (Kobe Bryant is the most popular). Other than how pedestrians are treated by drivers of bicycles, motor bikes and autos on the clogged streets, Chinese people were helpful and welcoming. The warm welcome at work was quite memorable and other than that Shanghai was like being in most large cities in the world. The cautionary tale for China is my belief that there will continue to be social unrest due to the Communist government's control of communications, freedom of speech and other basic rights we enjoy. The economy will grow but at some point the controls will have to be relaxed or there will be a lot more social issues raised by the youth.

India - With only a month in India, mostly in Mumbai, it's hard to get a full read on everything but I found the Indian people every bit as nice as the Chinese with the added plus that they speak English (once you train your ear to understand them.) The people were very welcoming, extending themselves to do anything that was asked or even hinted about. The difference is that while India's economy is also growing rapidly, it seems there infrastructure is stuck in the 1960s. Roads are clearly unable to handle the vehicular traffic in the large cities. People are experiencing the thrill of travel and increased wealth but it is not as alien to the Indian way of thinking as it is to the Chinese people. The biggest difference I saw was that the poverty in India is not hidden. In Mumbai, it hits you right in the face, grabs you and doesn't let you forget it. The other thing India is facing is lack of control on population growth. this will make India the most populous country by 2030 with over 1.3 Billion people. However, until the infrastructure is improved (schools, roads, transportation,etc.) and the population growth is stemmed, there will continue to be growing pains.

Africa - I know it's not a country, but it would be impossible to analyze all of the individual (ten) countries we visited given the time we had in each. In a case of they don't know what they don't have,the African people seem quite happy. The regions a big mix of good economy and poor. There are many big issues. Aids/HIV effect 50% of the population in some areas with no real progress begin made. Governments are corrupt throughout the region and therefore, a slew of issues emerge. Lack of consistent electrical power, poor or crumbling road infrastructure, lack of schools or teachers, political unrest, overpopulation, lack of employment opportunities, poaching of animals in protected areas, etc. And despite all of this, the people were warm and welcoming wherever w went. Of course, to some people we only represented $ signs and their thoughts were only about selling things to us. To many, we were Westerners from countries that had more than them so they wanted to learn more about our way of life, what we had, how we lived etc.

Some other African "Way of Life" observations from the windows of our vehicles...
1. Police use road blocks to stop vehicles traveling within the same country or area. For some, it's about bribery and others it's about control.
2. In the countryside, people walk everywhere as they have no other means of travel. There were some people traveling around on donkeys.
3.Children play games like all do, but in some places rocks replaced rubber balls, banded plastic replaced soccer balls,
4. Everyone who uses a telephone has a cell phone that is run with purchase cards for connect time.
5. Women haul everything around on their head (produce mostly) or on their backs (children tied in with pieces of fabric)
6. In the countryside, most people don't have shoes.
7. Houses are typically made of mud with thatched roofs. As we got to more developed areas or more affluent countries, the style of roof changed to metal from thatch, homes had more than one big room, people had shoes, roads other than the main highway were paved.
8. It is typical to see lots of young children (under 5) and see lots of men (age 15+) sitting around doing nothing.

Things I learned from my fellow travelers...

As an American, I think our point of view is mentally isolated.
Few Americans know the currency conversion for Canada or the UK or Euro. Many don't even know what the currencies are.
Few Americans know the heads of state of our closest allies like Canada or England, but the people overseas all know who's running our country.
Few Americans understand the UK way of life, but the UK folks get ours.
Few Americans would know the first thing to even ask about life in other countries while the people I traveled with asked lots of great questions about our life.

America is looked upon as the leader in many things like business, politics, policing the world, fighting injustices, Hollywood movies, the rich and famous, etc., but most people don't understand why we get involved in some of the things internationally we put ourselves in the middle of. Canada and Australia are countries of 30 million that are fairly remote and on big land masses so their point of view is interesting.

As the leader, we should be looking ahead at our next challenges but as the world shrinks increasingly through technology leaps, it would be myopic to continue to look in the mirror and smile at our own reflection.

This last thought makes me think of my favorite poem, one that I always print and hang in my office at work. The poem is called, "The Guy in the Glass" and it perfectly reflects the "don't blame others for your problems" attitude I'm trying to impress on my children. It's also interesting to think about when and how people make an impact on you. The first time I heard this poem was at a HS football banquet in Hopkinton, MA where my oldest son was a graduating senior. The poem was read as part of the remarks by the superintendent of schools. I'm pretty sure none of the HS seniors thought about this for a second and probably none of the parents either, but it did make an impression on me.

The Guy in the Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

Dale Wimbrow 1895-1954

The rafting trip

2011-05-19T06:31:00.002+08:00

Near the end of our trip in Africa we went to a town called Jinja in Uganda. This is another self proclaimed "Action and Adventure Capital" of Africa, the third such type of place we visited. During the trip, I ignored most of these places but thought the time was right to try one of these activities. There was a rafting trip on the White Nile which promised level 5 rapids. This is the highest level of difficulty rafting trips go on. Anything above that is not navigable.

On a cloudy but not rainy day we ventured to our drop off point and proceeded to get trained on how to fall out of the boat, how to get back in and what to do if the raft turns over. Our guide was a slightly insane Australian who has guided rafting trips all over the world and his stated goal was to make this trip as exciting as possible. His way to do this was to lead us over a 15 foot high waterfall and through many rough water areas. Our boat did flip 4x during the trip and thanks to the preparation, we were able to make adjustments and get back into the raft (after being violently tossed and trying to drink much of the Nile).

I guess I would say that while I was confident in the safety gear and the three trail boats who would help anyone who fell out of the boat, you're not normal if you didn't feel some fear as we headed into some rough areas sideways with little doubt we were going to be violently tossed from our boat.

This photo essay follows our trip...

Remember the Ali- fRazier fight quote from many years ago?

Down goes Frazier; well, down we go...

Traveling through Uganda and Rwanda

2011-05-19T06:26:00.003+08:00

We continued our journey through Uganda and Rwanda. We spent a night in a camp in the middle of Kampala, Uganda and found out days later that the local political unrest resulted in several groups of tourists on vehicles like our getting tear gassed. We continued to experience the standard African power situation where we lost power for hours, typically, in the few hours we had at a location with Internet services.

We did venture to a very nice location in the farming country of Uganda. Uganda is a very green country. It rains and lot and with a temperate climate, it can be ideal for farming. At this location, on a farm, we upgraded to a room inside a house so we wouldn't have to sleep on the ground (again). This was to be the mode of travel for the last leg of the trip as sleeping bags and the set up and take down of tents got really old.

From this location, we set off on a trip to track chimpanzees, which we're told are the closest thing to human beings genetically. On this trip the group is separated into three equal groups and each group tries to find the chimpanzees and then the other groups are called to join them. We are allowed one hour with the chimps. The chimps were located after a one hour walk but because they preferred to stay in the trees the entire time we were there, the resulting photos are not up to my typical standards so please excuse them. I am including them here to record the event and show you what we saw...

Our next stop was in a remote section of Uganda at a beautiful lake called, Lake Bunyoni. One thing we could do on our day of relaxation was visit the pygmy tribe living nearby. So, off we went in the cool of the morning to observe this unique group. Of course, we expected pygmies to be rather short people but they were the same height as many of the women on our trip, which was a bit of a disappointment and we referred to them as Giant Pygmies, which felt oxymoronic, for the rest of the trip. Some photos from the boat ride in and the locals at the Pygmy village...

The pipe smoker is the matriarch of this group...

A scene along the way...

From here, we headed for Rwanda. Of course, since peace has come relatively recently to Rwanda, not many people have been there. Our first event was to go see the Gorillas in the wild but that subject has it's own blog so I will just describe what happened next. After viewing the gorillas, we headed for Kigali, Rwanda, the capital city and the scene of many atrocities during the recent genocide. We visited the genocide museum which is a game attempt by the country to remind everyone of what happened and make sure it doesn't fade from memory. Outside the museum, where many people are buried in a mass grave, there was this sign...

and this one which is part of a wall of victim's names. Unfortunately, it's only partially complete. The whole complex seemed not quite ready for prime time, yet. We did run into the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda.

After this we proceeded to our camp for the night which was in town and gave me a chance to go to the Hôtel des Mille Collines which is the featured location for the movie, "Hotel Rwanda". It has been rebuilt into a very nice, classy hotel. I took the opportunity to go to a shopping area near by wearing my new tee shirt which had one word on it, Mzungu, which means which man who travels around in Swahili. I got lots of great reactions from the locals and was very impressed with the people, the cleanliness and the layout of the city.

The trip was now in the wind down mode as we left Rwanda and headed to our last national park for game viewing before going to an action/adventure location for the last stop on our trip.

On the way, we came across these very strange steers...

Then on the the game park...

Cape Buffalo

Can you see the bird inside this nest?

Here he is on the outside...

The Gorilla Trek

2011-05-19T01:16:00.003+08:00

We headed to the mountain area of Rwanda to see the rare gorillas in the wild. There are less than 1,000 gorillas in the mountain areas of Uganda and Rwanda. Over the years, gorillas have been hunted by some of the bands of men who roam these open areas with little or no legal interference. This is also the area where Dian Fossey of "Gorillas in the Mist" fame was murdered for her activism against the poachers.

The two countries governments have gotten serious about protecting these animals and have convinced the poachers that it is there best long term interest to not continue poaching. The former poachers now are scouts who find the troups of gorillas and use radios to tell the guides where the gorillas are so the guides can bring the people to the gorillas.

After meeting in the central gathering point, groups of tourists are separated by difficulty of climb. I was in the medium difficulty group and we headed out in vans to the put in point for our hike. The road to this point was extremely rough, tossing us all around the vehicle and referred to by our guides as an "African Massage"

The hike to see the gorillas starts out in farm land where people live in structures like this one...

We then went over a fence into the rain forest/jungle where our guides used machetes to clear the path. After walking on a rickety bridge, we began ascending on our search. The guides tracked the specific family of Gorillas we were going to see to a point in the middle of a vast open space that was severely overgrown. With the excitement of finding gorillas in the air, we didn't realize how difficult this climb was going to be. We scrambled uphill over mud slicked, tree root and sticker bush paths in the rain. Sounds easy, I know, but this was truly hard work. No remote controls, no tour buses, no paved paths, we were truly in the middle of the jungle. Our guide did have a rifle and the same team of guides visit the same family of gorillas every day so the gorillas are acclimated to the sounds and smells and won't attack or flee.

After an hour, we came upon the gorilla family and had to leave everything but our cameras and binoculars behind as we approached the gorilla family. This walk was now a decent on a slick path which leaves you no options but to grab at the sticker bushes and other growths to stem your forward progress.

So here is what we found...

The first one was truly a gorilla in the mist...

The rest are the best of the most candid shots and close-ups

Visitors are only allowed to send one hour per day with each family so we quickly consumed our time and headed back down the slippery trail and back to civilization. It was an amazing experience to see these beautiful animals in their native environment.

After the Serengeti…

2011-05-01T19:40:00.000+08:00

We headed to the famous Ngorogoro Crater. This crater was caused by a huge volcanic explosion thousands of years ago which created a flat area that has become an animal grazing area. This caldera is similar to the one in Yellowstone. Going to Ngorogoro after the Serengeti si like going to the Grand Tetons after Yellowstone. You just continue down the road and run into another natural marvel.

We had several animals ready to welcome us to the area…

A Golden Jackal

Some Cheetahs

After this we headed to Nairobi which brought us to the end of our 2nd trip. We stayed a night in Nairobi, said goodbye to almost everyone who came north from Capetown and struck out on the next portion of our trip heading toward Uganda and Rwanda where would hoped to find chimpanzees and gorillas. Our first stop was a park in Uganda called Nakuru. This location had a lot of water based wildlife, but our greeter here was a rather unfriendly fellow…

The lots of marine life...

We found a very young Zebra…

and another Rhino...

Then we found some hyenas but one of them looks like he should be dialing 911…

Then we found some flamingos near the shore…

The final thing in the park were colubus monkeys…

Now on to Chimpanzees and gorillas...

Serengeti - Part 2 - The big scene

2011-04-27T02:12:00.002+08:00

In the middle of the day, we had an unforgettable encounter. After seeing a lone lioness resting under a tree we drove a little bit and saw a lone jeep staring up at a tree. We encouraged our driver to go check it out. When we got there, this is what I first saw...

Needless to say I was quite excited. A lion cub in a tree! How cool! I felt pretty good but then suddenly there was another cub trying to climb the same tree and join the first one...

This tree climbing sequence is a multiple photo layout to show you the steps as I saw them...

Pulling back, I saw there were many lion cubs already in the tree. I quickly counted and saw there were 11 cubs hanging from the limbs of this small tree! It looked like this...

After taking a group of photos, I began to spot more lion cubs heading toward the tree. Some trying to climb and others just laying in the tall grass around the tree. The lion cub count reached an outstanding total of 17 individuals. Needless to say, I was in photo heaven, just trying to make sure I didn't mess anything up.

These were the best of what I took...

too much traffic on the tree...

Then, suddenly all the cubs were trying to climb out of the tree as fast as possible. I was pretty sure there was no predator headed toward them, but turning around, I saw five lionesses, the proud mothers of this group, on the other side of the road wondering why there were ten jeeps surrounding their young.

Here's the lookout lioness...

The mad dash and scramble to find the right mother looked like this...

Finally, a few ending shots of the cubs belonging to the lookout lioness including the endearing closeup of the young looking to mom for approval...

Whew! I'm tired!

The Serengeti

2011-04-26T03:51:00.001+08:00

We transitioned into the Tanzania countryside, greeted by views of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. We camped near an area that seemed as poor as the others we visited.

In the morning, we visited a school that our trekking company donates money to. We walked uphill for one hour to reach a plateau where there were schools, libraries and a small computer center. The town below relies on these schools to help educate the children who seem pretty happy in their surroundings and look to be trying hard to produce usable products in their shop classes with minimal tools and equipment. The computer center is run by a young man who recently relocated from England and has turned around a crummy, dingy run down computer center in short order and is now repairing laptops for the townies.

This area suffers from the same problem I’ve previously noted with lack of consistent power. The power was out when we were there too. We had lunch in a local house before cruising down the hill and back on our way to the famous Serengeti to game drive for animals. I did meet a lady who curiously, just flat out asked me to give her my camera and she refused to have her picture taken. I did sneak one though…

On the way in, we observed many Masai people who have lived in this area a long time. Their standing allows them to keep their cattle in the protected Serengeti area to graze and keep their homes. The Masai are unwilling to have their photos taken unless you pay a fee. Of course, if a Masai warrior happens to walk the photo when you’re looking at wildlife, they can’t complain too much…

We proceeded into the park, passing the famous Ngorogoro Crater because we would return to explore that area on our way out. As the above photo shows, we were greeted by zebra but they didn’t hold much interest for us since the entire group had seen many in our travels to date. However, we then came upon our first hyenas which made for some interesting photos.

Then, we saw a leopard in a tree in the distance. After a while watching the actions from a distance, we moved on but found another leopard in a much closer tree.

After the leopards came a parade of fun and interesting animals including several lions and more leopards. There was an amazing highlight to the day but that animal interaction will get its own blog following this one. For now enjoy the free roaming animals (and birds).

A bat eared fox...

a bird

an eagle

A marabou Stork

A close up of one of my favorite animals, just before they charged our jeep...

Who says a 500mm lens can't be a good landscape lens? (Ask a camera friend to explain.)

An unhappy hippo out of the water...

An finally a mom making sure her young one got to wherever she wanted it to be...

and here's the one i forgot; this is fully as i saw it with no cropping so you can see how close i was...

Malawi to Tanzania

2011-04-26T00:50:00.000+08:00

Since we raced through Mozambique travelling across the short east to west highway in the north, I can’t really claim to have seen the country. Two bathroom stops and two border posts were all we saw. Doing this fast trip was going to allow us to pick up an extra day in Dar Es Salaam to relax at the beach.

We entered Malawi in the evening. Malawi is a long narrow country that is unfortunately known more for its Aids/HIV rate than anything else. The people were very nice but also needy. There doesn’t seem to be many sources of income. We did pass beautiful landscapes where farmers are adapting to the hillsides they live on and figuring out how to make something grow. The first night, we arrived late and camped outside the capital city of Lilongwe. The next day we went to see the city before moving on. We should have just moved on. There was truly nothing there except a lot of people standing around, which has been a common theme in most of these less developed countries.

Malawi is long and narrow country because Lake Malawi occupies around 50% of the land mass. The lake is long, stretching from the southern border to the northern border and has lots of beautiful scenery. We camped at two different lakefront locations. In the first one, where we would be staying for two nights, we decided to upgrade to a beach hut rather than use our tent. The night was peaceful until around 3 AM when the skies exploded into a massive thunder and lightning storm soaking all the others in their tents and leaking into our truck too. The campsite was very nice and the next day was a relaxing day spent reading and listening to books on tape (iPod actually). We then traveled north to another Lake Malawi site for a single night which featured beautiful skies, a nice setting and a local craft market where we purchased a few goodies.

Here are some scenes from our drive through…

Malawi does have some beautiful teak carved products that are inexpensive. We found something for Marissa that will help her know she “will never walk alone”. You have to be a European football (Soccer) fan to get this.

We woke early and headed to the Tanzanian border, passing more remote, spectacular scenery. The crossing was uneventful as was the evening. The crossing did bring some immediate changes. Houses, which are clay or mud brick, now had metal roofs, not straw. People were making products for sale that required some manufacturing like furniture.. The next day, we headed to Dar Es Salaam, a large city on the Indian Ocean. We drove through to a ferry which took us to a campsite on a nearby island which offered free wireless internet connection which didn’t work. We headed into the city the next day. Again, lots of people, more buildings and economy than we saw in Malawi, but with it lots more chaos, crowds, congestion, traffic, smog, etc. Most people wear shoes here. Not a joke, but a common theme we have encountered is lack of footwear. Some people on our trip tell us that this is one way to quickly rate the relative prosperity of the people. Many people in Zimbabwe approached me to offer things for trade and they didn’t want expensive camera equipment, they wanted my New Balance walking shoes.

We left Dar Es Salaam and took a two hour ferry to Zanzibar. A little history lesson for most people. There used to be two countries, Tanganyika and Zanzibar, who merged into one called Tanzania in 1964. Zanzibar has been the home for many conquerors over time but the Arabs and Persians had the most success as the country is 96% Muslim. There is an old town area where we spent one day and then we traveled to a beach resort for two more. In the old town, called Stone Town, the streets reminded me of Venice since they were winding with few easily identifiable landmarks where it was easy to get lost in the maze. The best thing there was a night food market where the make “Zanzibar Pizza”. This would be a small tortilla with some vegetables, a choice of meat or fish and an egg that is fried on a grill. Very tasty and not hard to make. You can probably Google this and find some recipes.
At the beach resort, we ran into a constant African problem, unstable electricity. On our full day, we lost power at least 5 times. The internet worked really well when the power was on. We found out that our youngest fractured a bone in his hand and then found that someone in Staples messed up and canceled my insurance, so he could not get immediate medical help. It got quickly resolved but trying to help him make the right decisions from this far away is hard.

The climate is hot and humid but our room had a ceiling fan and air conditioning, which made for great sleeping. Susan went snorkeling while I chilled out at the beach in the almost 80 degree water. The sunsets were beautiful and it was pretty relaxing, but as you might guess, all this chilling out is leaving me a little cold. I want more action! Today, we leave the beaches and head to Kilimanjaro where we will be camping in 55 degree temps, it sounds very refreshing. The best part is we head from there to see the annual animal migration in the Serengeti. This part of the trip ends next Saturday and our final two weeks, part three of the trip, heads to Rwanda and Uganda the next day.

Zanzibar sunset...

Victoria Falls onward….

2011-04-01T16:39:00.000+08:00

We left Chobe and headed to Victoria Falls which would mark a point of a lot of changes. Since this trip is really three individual trips merged together, for some people this would be the end of their experience and we would also be picking up others ready to start their adventure. Six people left and two joined so we now had 11 paid customers plus our cook in 12 double seats. This meant each person had their own space to stretch out in, very nice!

Victoria Falls is in Zimbabwe our 4th country visited. It is also where Robert Mugabe runs things in a pretty corrupt manner. Zimbabwe, despite the highest literacy rate in Africa, has 80% unemployment and little outside investment due to the government. On the other hand, they have just discovered one of the largest diamond fields in the world, but it seems to be feeding the corruption machine, not the people. Also, I remember years ago, my mother telling me about relatives who fled Nazi Germany and moved to Southern Rhodesia where the capital city was called Salisbury. Today, that country is Zimbabwe and the capital is renamed Harare. Northern Rhodesia is now the bordering country of Zambia, which we will not be visiting. These areas had the typical African issue, minority whites held all the land and the money and it was only a matter of time until the local tribes would take over the government and repossess everything. Farmers are still being removed from their lands today and they are being redistributed to friends of the government, but the issue is, the new owners aren’t willing or able to work the land so the once productive farms are now producing nothing. Another thing is the flight of all young educated people (black and white) who can’t find jobs or social security. I’m told this is happening in South Africa too.

Everywhere we went in Vic Falls, there were street people hawking goods and looking to trade for our shoes. One of the popular things to sell is one trillion dollar bills printed by the Zimbabwe government. When that failed they converted to the U.S. dollar which makes it easy to buy things. Also, the town is maybe 5 streets in total and not very impressive. The falls, however, are spectacular but not safe for our cameras. This photo was taken with a small digital point and shoot we carry, thanks Chris D.! I took the time to get a haircut. I got a clipper cut with the #2 fitting so it’s really short.

Here's what Victoria Falls looks like...

We left Victoria Falls and headed to another camp in a park called Hwangi, where we had an exceptional local guide who took us on two game safaris and educated us on local people, plants used in the bush, animal activity, etc., quite an amazing guy. We saw lots of animals and birds but mostly different views of ones we had already seen, pretty nice viewing with close looks at elephants, giraffes, baboons, etc. We got a better view of a cheetah than before too.

We found a sable antelope there...

A young elephant

This is a cheetah resting on a huge termite mound. We have seen some mounds of amazing size...

A zebra up close...

A lilac breasted roller

Leaving Hwangi, we headed to another camp where we would stay two nights in Matapos National Park. The guide from the prior day pinch hit for the guide who usually does this part of the trip. Our goal was to see some ancient wall paintings done by the “bushmen” and then try to find rhinoceros in the park. The paintings were interesting and we were told there were at least 3,000 more caves like the one we visited.

We then went into the park and drove around looking for rhinos or hippos. After three hours of searching plus a stop for lunch, our guide had us dismount for a walk through the bush to track rhinos. Imagine walking through tall grass where you can’t see 10 feet ahead in land inhabited by rhinos, hippos, hyenas, lions, etc. I’m no hero so this was scary to me, too. The only reason any of us took even one step was the ability of the guide and his knowledge of the land, plus he was carrying a rather large rifle. This man is a very capable, well adapted fellow who knows what he’s doing. We walked through the brush for two hours and were hot and tired while he told us he was tracking a rhino and we just wanted to get back to the vehicle and have a drink and a rest. Well, sure enough, he found two white rhinos, each weighing around 2,000 pounds. We proceeded to track them until we were as close as twenty yards away. These animals are huge!. The sad thing is, to keep the rhinos alive; they have to cut off both of their horns. Otherwise, poachers will kill them and cut off the horns for sale in Chinese markets. It seems the rhino horn has some specific uses in Chinese medicine and for some, there are aphrodisiac qualities too. So, these rhinos have been darted and tagged (in the ear) and had their horns removed. Now poachers won’t kill them.

Finally, a hippo showing his open mouth as a warning...

We then headed to Harare for an afternoon to tour around. There was not much to see. The typical big city attractions like botanical gardens, National archives and galleries have been neglected and allowed to fall into disrepair. We walked toward the Presidential residence and had lunch in a sports club at a cricket field where everyone was watching the India-Pakistan match. Then back to the city center where there wasn’t much to do. Our group decided to make an early start and try to cross two borders in one day plus drive over 400 miles. This was going to cause a 15 hour travel day, but it would allow us one extra free day in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. We got to the Zimbabwe/Mozambique border and had a two hour wait while they manually wrote up our visas.

I don’t know much about Mozambique except they were a Portuguese colony at one time so the language is still used here. We drove across one section of the country and arrived at the Mozambique/Malawi border at 6:30 PM. The Mozambique exit office looked closed but it turned out they were using candles to work from due to lack of electricity. Since the border closes around this time, we felt lucky to get through. Then it was the Malawi border entry office for another stamp before driving 90 minutes to our camp where we upgraded to a bedroom for $2.50 per person.

Chobe National Park

2011-03-30T02:18:00.000+08:00

Our group next headed for Chobe National Park in Botswana, leaving Namibia for the last time. Chobe is an amazing place and the home to over 25,000 elephants. We camped at a five star lodge so the facilities were quite nice. Internet was available, shopping good and the camp and grounds beautiful. We stayed at camp the first night and had an early wake up for a game drive where the viewing was excellent. We had another close encounter with lions and then warthogs, baboons and even oxpeckers. An oxpecker is a bird that sits on the back of a large animal and eats the bugs and parasites growing there.

Morning photos...

A pensive Baboon (kind of an oxymoron)

A cute warthog (another oxymoron)

A lion roadside from 20 feet away...

A lion yawning sequence from 8 feet away. (Don't worry, Susan was between the lion and me so I felt safe)

Oxpeckers on the back of a Cape Buffalo

Note: All of these photos were taken from a safari vehicle with a local guide. There were 6 people on our vehicle.

After lunch and some chill out time, we took an afternoon cruise to see the park from a different angle. Well, we certainly did. The elephants that were not around in the AM were all out bathing where we were cruising.

pretty ain't they?

Approaching storm...

There were lots of interesting things to see as the photos below show, and as a big rainstorm moved in on us, our captain spotted a real treat. On shore, hunting for its next meal was a leopard. Our boat tracked the leopard near the shore for over 30 minutes as the leopard paced back and forth looking for food. At some times, we were 100 yards away and others we were 20 yards away. We were so close, it seems like the leopard could have jumped onto the boat.

Chobe is my favorite location to date.

Many more places to go!

Africa Journey - Day 10 thru 18

2011-03-22T18:25:00.000+08:00

This is written day 18 of the 60 day Africa journey. Please be aware there are some photos of bare chested women in this blog as I have been photographing normal daily life for some people.
The first group, called Himbas, were unique for their crafts, the way they assemble their hair and color their bodies with a clay type of mixture. I spent a few minutes trying to get good photos in bad light.

We left Swakopmund, Namibia after a three day break and headed north out of the desert toward the swampy grasslands that looks more like what most people envision Africa to be. On our way to this new area we made one last stop along the Western Coast of Namibia to view a huge colony of Cape Fur Seals and I found this guy…

Our first stop was a rather boring looking area with a bush camp. A bush camp is what you would have if you camped on your local football field. No view to look at, no activities, no shower, no toilet, etc., you get the picture. So envision this boring bush camp with tall rocky cliffs around, yawn. Then it started to rain, African style, like our days in Texas, nothing halfway. Soon, there were rivers where dry ground was ten minutes earlier, there were waterfalls cascading down from all of the cliffs, there was a shower you could stand in and bath under. Oh yeah, there were tents floating downstream, some blowing downstream, some just collapsing. There was a huge tarp to attach to our truck so we could eat and cook underneath away from the rain. It either had too much rain to stay up or the wind was too strong and it kept blowing off its moorings. Thirty minutes later, the storm passed; an hour later the streams and waterfalls stopped flowing and we returned to our activities of getting camp set up, soaking wet. Not an enjoyable evening but a true camping experience.

The next day, under clear skies, we headed to Etosha National Park in Namibia where we would spend two nights in two different camp sites. We set up camp and then set out on a nature and game drive. Truly, too many things to describe but the highlights were giraffe and zebras. Of course, we thought this was pretty good, but it was just the warm-up.

The next day we went on a frustrating game drive covering one entire section of the park and there was little to no animal activity. We proceeded to the far side heading for our camp area when we began to see lots of wildlife. From a distance, we found a mother and young cheetah frolicking near some zebras.

We found some zebras all around us in many locations, some with young, some playing together, or just eating.

So, tired from being in the truck all day, we headed back toward our camp. First, we saw some vultures in a tree which is a sure sign there is something dead or dying nearby. We found the unfortunate victim of life in the wild and what happens when they fall.

In the waning light, we came upon an unexpected delight. Sitting by the side of the road, watching life go by, was a huge male lion with six lionesses! Almost close enough to touch. Our noisy diesel truck really didn’t disturb the lions, as they moved a whole 25 feet away and went back to lying in the grass ignoring us. These photos taken with a telephoto lens but not enlarged or cropped were from approx. 20 yards away.

We left Etosha and headed to an area populated by “Bushmen” who have been living a traditional life off of the land for a very long time, like Native Americans used to. We watched them make a fire from dried out weeds and pieces of wood, no flint or other ignition besides the friction of the wood. Other photos show parts of the normal bushmen life. I also took a video of the group but can't upload it yet.

Our next camp was supposed to be a really good one, but the recent rainfall had washed away the road so we skipped to the subsequent camp and spent two nights there, relaxing all day the 2nd day with nothing much to do so I worked on processing photos. Of some concern was the sign hanging at our site that said, “Danger – Crocodiles”. They claim this is just to discourage swimming, but you have to wonder what sign they have hanging in the water to discourage the crocs from coming on shore.

We left this camp and headed to the Okavango Delta to camp for two nights. This required crossing from Namibia to Botswana, no big deal. Two things concerned me. One was that we would be transported in mokoros (dugout canoes). Some will remember my failure to correctly board a canoe in Minnesota, dumping my camera in the fresh water and causing the loss of a camera and a lens worth $2,000 a few years ago. (covered by insurance, but still…)

The other concerning thing was a posted warning on our truck that said:
1. Never go to the toilet alone, at night.
2. Avoid going to the toilet in the middle of the night.
3. If you have to go, shine your headlamp outside and if you see eyes glowing in the dark and staring back at you, stay in your tent!

I guess not too many 55 year old men go on this trip.
The good news is, I managed to survive both concerns. We had an amazing trip through the reedy water inhabited by hippopotamus that can be quite dangerous to man even though they are vegetarians. I didn’t get a Hippo photo at this time but can share one from our campground.

Well, maybe not what you were expecting but no man stood too close to these urinals.

The land is full of elephants, who are “in season” so they are a little boisterous too. Monkeys and baboons are all over the area too. Not many good photos but lots of signs and sounds of the existence of many wild animals on the two walks. One amazing sighting was a pearl fish owl and another was a fish eagle. In the late afternoon, I took a guided walk to look for animals to photograph. While there was an established path, it was mostly overgrown and a machete would not have gone to waste on this walk. Two thoughts went through my head… First, I imagined coming around a corner and finding Dr. Livingstone and uttering the famous words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” (Note: We do go to the town of Livingstone in the next week.) The second thought was I could envision Johnny Weissmuller high above the canopy swinging from tree to tree, giving his best Tarzan call.

Leaving this camp, we headed back to Namibia for one more night in our “crocodile” camp before going to another fabulous wild animal area in Botswana the next day.
It surprising that the first section of this journey is almost over since it ends in five days in Victoria Falls, as six people will leave the group and two will join. If I didn’t take another step, there are enough memories and photos to fill a book so I can only sit and wonder in amazement what the next 5½ weeks will bring. The size and scope of Africa is stunning, the nature and wildlife also amazes everyone. The only thing I’ve seen that comes close is Alaska but even that beautiful area doesn’t have the scale and scope and diversity of life, animal, bird and human that this part of Africa does. I haven’t said much about birds but the size, scope and beauty of the African birds justifies its own blog. Likewise, the people we have encountered are amazingly nice, cheerful, smart, thoughtful, understanding, etc.

At breakfast this AM, we were threatened with rain but got this instead…

Cleaning up the corners of my mind...

2011-03-11T23:24:00.000+08:00

This blog is picking up the pieces that haven’t been reported on in prior blogs so since I had a little time, I thought I would collect some of these things and report to all.

Going back to February in Mumbai before we left, there were some interesting events our last Saturday. We decided to stay in Mumbai and run some errands and have a chill out day. First we headed for a camera store to find some miscellaneous things for the upcoming trip. Rather than our usual taxi ride, we opted for the local rail station. Since the one near our hotel is the origin of the line, we were able to buy a ticket and calmly walk on and take a seat. We had to go approx. eight stops. After a few stops, we realized a couple of things. First, the train doesn’t exactly stop for long, like 20 seconds of full stop so most people jump off before complete stop and other jump on as the train begins to leave the station. Since the doors never close or people would suffocate, all riders hang on to avoid being jostled off the train as it moves. Second, we realized that there is no limit to how many bodies would be squeezed into the railcar. With each passing stop, there was less room, less air to breathe, less comfort. As we finally approached our stop in the now fully crowded train, we made our way toward the exit before the train fully stopped. Just as it slowed to almost no forward motion, we pushed our way to edge. I saw there was a huge push already coming from the outside from the people trying to get on (kind of like the Shanghai Metro) so I took up the position of a football offensive lineman, elbows extended out from my body and made a path for Susan to exit the train. I found just like in China, these people were easy to move wherever I wanted to move them.

We did our somewhat uneventful shopping and headed back to the station. This time we were part of the surging crowd trying to get on the crowded train and hopped and pulled and struggled to get a handhold as the train began to move out of the station. Although we were able to get on the train, there was no room to move, turn, bend, etc. As the stations passed, the crowd abated until we reached the terminus where we began and calmly walked off the train. Of course, this was all on a Saturday when the trains are not crowded!

We proceeded to the Taj Mahal Palace, scene of the terrorist attack in 2008 and where President Obama stayed last year, renting out the entire hotel. The hotel is beautiful, security very tight and the location amazing. We proceeded to the afternoon tea buffet which was pretty impressive. We waited for a window table to enjoy the view of the nearby harbor and people watch from this vantage point. All went well until there was a bit of commotion below us and I spotted a three car escort stopping down below our window, no big deal until two guys got out with Uzis. Of course, rather than turn from the window for safety, I was plastered against the edge to see what would happen next. Out of the middle vehicle steps the Dalai Lama who was in town to give some speeches and meet with local believers. A pretty interesting sighting, but sorry no photos.

Jumping ahead one week, after settling into Capetown, I reported on some of our activities but our last days provided some other things of interest. Three major points of interest are Table Mountain, so named because the top appears completely flat, Robbern Island where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were kept for 30 years and the V&A Waterfront. Robbern Island is like a visit to Alcatraz near San Francisco. It’s a prison from which one person is known to have escaped and many endured hardships. The tour is given by a former political prisoner and that makes it worthwhile as you get a pretty good idea of what they endured during their incarceration.

Table Mountain can be hiked in two hours or you can take a cable car to the top and walk around up there. We opted for the 2nd choice mostly because we were running out of time since we had to delay this earlier due to poor visibility but it was also pretty hot outside and we’re wimps. The views from the top were pretty good even in the bright light of early afternoon.

Finally, we went to the V&A waterfront on a perfectly clear evening. As the sun went down, I took some photos of the harbor and the huge Ferris wheel.

In the same location, the are all kinds of street vendors. This one is similar to one I've seen in other locations.

One other day, we were entertained before lunch by some children who had finished their own lunch and were just looking to entertain people who came by. I got these photos reflecting their moods…

Star Trail Photography in Africa

2011-03-10T23:36:00.001+08:00

I have wondered about how to make interesting night photographs for a long time. In the 1970s, using my Canon AE-1 camera and a tripod, I took some time lapse photos of traffic moving along our street in Staten Island, NY, by holding a shutter release open for 45 or 60 seconds. The resulting photograph shows a mix of bright headlights and red brake lights plus the traffic lights are illuminated in all three colors simultaneously, basically a blur of traffic which was my goal.

With the new digital cameras things are a bit different. You can avoid the manual aspect by buying a relatively inexpensive camera shutter release that can be locked open for long exposure photography. Before leaving India, I read and printed some instructions on how to take a star trail photo. Basically, since the Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours, the star field that we see can see at night rotates around the polar axis in a complete circle. Here in the Southern Hemisphere, it rotates around the “Southern Cross” (and no, I never heard of that before either.) Of course, the stars don’t move much but it’s the earth’s movement that makes it appear that way.

I began thinking that being out in the middle of nowhere; there might be a few stars visible that you don’t usually see. I remember the amazing sight of the quantity of stars and shooting stars I saw in the night sky in 2006 when I slept on the Great Wall of China. Well, this was a good thought, there are literally, a bazillion stars out every clear night. Couple that with an inability to sleep due to being overheated, and you have a person looking for some way to occupy their time for a few hours. The star trail photos I have attempted so far range in exposure time between 25 minutes and 2½ hours. As you might expect, my skill has improved as my experience has grown and I have figured a few things out. Later in the trip, when there are wild animals near our camp, this may not be possible.

This would certainly make a city boy more interested in Astronomy, if I could see this much every day...

The first attempt, maybe a 25 minute exposure...

The 2nd attempt; just the stars moving...

The 4th attempt, you can tell it's a longer exposure because the trails are longer...

The last attempt, #7, a two hour exposure, with the best outcome so far...

Remember, anyone with a Digital SLR can do this, just read up on it, find a place away from city lights and go on a night when you're having insomnia.

The Trek Begins: South Africa to Namibia

2011-03-10T23:29:00.001+08:00

The first week was full of adjustments. We met our fellow travelers on the first night during an introduction meeting followed by dinner. Our 60 day Northbound Trek is actually three separate trips. Trip one is three weeks from Cape Town to Victoria Falls where 6 of our 13 fellow travelers will depart and two new ones will join. The group of 11 will continue north to Nairobi and most will leave as only three of the original group goes on to Rwanda and Uganda with 13 more people joining.

The group is a mix of Westerners from Canada, Australia and England plus us two Americans. Our trip leaders are American and British so this is an all English speaking crowd. The age mix goes from gap year students to a couple in their 60s. Half of the group is younger than 30. All pretty nice people who are very helpful. We all have “jobs” to do like unload the truck, set up camp, and rotate every five days in food preparation with our amazing Kenyan cook.

While I don’t want to bore anyone with too much detail of our everyday life (trust me, I remember that the Seinfeld Show was called a show about nothing), there are many daily events that are definitely different than most everyday Western life.

Today in the grocery store for example, the lady in line behind me had her baby in a papoose, her hair in braids or dreadlocks and a copper colored powder all over her body. Of course, I did a double take when I saw she was naked from the waist up and thinking nothing about it as she went through her daily life.

The first two days took us west through the southernmost portion of South Africa where we camped the first night. The camp was very nice with hot showers, a beautiful pool and a meal cooked by the camp owners. All good except it was very hot for us. (In Massachusetts, they would call this wicked hot.) The temperature was around 38 Celsius which is 104 Fahrenheit. We have been warned that it was around 45 C in Namibia which is around 113 F where we would be camping two nights later. While there is a lot of wind in the late afternoon, it takes a while for the air to cool so sleep didn’t come too quick for me the first night. To keep myself occupied, I went out while the others were drinking and tried to take some photos that are called star trails. My star trail efforts from the first week will have their own short blog.

The second day, we crossed the border into Namibia. No Visa needed so this was pretty simple. We continued on to a camp site just over the border, next to the Orange River that is the border between these two countries. They had a much nicer pool but much worse showers/bathrooms but still, very acceptable. For two days we had been riding on a vehicle to get us to the border that is not as nice as the one we will use for the rest of the trip. At night, we met up with that vehicle and transferred our goods and camped for the night. The combination of tired from heat and lack of sleep had me snoozing by 9 PM. The air was a bit cooler and the tent a bit nicer.

We are now in a routine of camp set up and break down that will hopefully make for a smooth trip. Day three, we had a late start and will headed toward Fish River Canyon, which is something like the Grand Canyon with lots of heat. It was an interesting place to see as Namibia began to unfold its natural beauty. We stay in this canyon (where it was “only” 100 in the shade when we arrived), because the following morning, we will rise early to go to a massive sand dune area to climb up for sunrise. The Grand Canyon of Namibia is shown in this composite of four photos “sewn” together on my computer.

The sand dune was a very interesting place as some of the photos may show. We hiked up a 400 foot path on the spine of the sand dune. The dunes are stunning with red and orange tones, little tree or plant life.

There was the occasional surprise around these dunes as we spotted an ostrich family with many young moving at the base of a dune.

After that we went to an area in the desert where there has been no water for a long time and the trees are still standing 300 years later. Talk about desolation!

We then proceeded to another area where we would spend the night but not before taking a tour of the 30,000 acre property by the owner who is a 4th generation white Namibian (Dutch origins). He showed and told us amazing things about living in this desert area where this year they have had 10x the normal rainfall. We saw a lush green desert filled with wild flowers that would usually be an arid wasteland. Here are a few from his property…

The end of week #1 finds us in Swakopmund on the western Namibian coast next to the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a relief to be in a cool, temperate climate and not worry about beating the heat. Since I was in a bed for the first time in a week, I slept 11 hours. We will have three nights here to chill out here before heading into our first serious wildlife area called Etosha National Park.

Now a few words about Namibia. Namibia is a relatively new country established in 1990. Namibia was formerly German Southwest Africa until the League of Nations gave the land to South Africa, which had administrative control until 1990. The land is a mix of desert, mountains, colonial cities and seascapes. The people are a mix of Germans, Dutch, English, South Africans and local tribe people. The languages are English (the official language), German and Afrikaans (simplified Dutch). Namibia is one of the least populous countries in the world with a density of 2 people per kilometer.

The country is full of wildlife. The first few days we saw ostriches, Oryx, gemsbok, springbok, mountain zebras and gemsbok, among others. While the zebras (pronounced zeb-ras here) are the most interesting, the springbok are by far the most entertaining as they intermittently run and jump high in the air as the move away from us.

There is so much to talk about and what we are moving through is quite amazing. While it’s hard to believe one week is already complete, we still 7½ weeks remaining so there will be plenty more shock and awe at the people, natural beauty, wildlife, etc.

Oh yeah, here are a few animal photos...

Zebra

Springbok

Gemsbok

Ostrich

Penguin Breakfast Meeting

2011-03-03T13:29:00.001+08:00

My wife "forced" me to awaken at 5:30 AM yesterday and go take photos of penguins on the beach. The truth is I wasn't satisfied with the prior penguin photos and we're staying 5 miles from the beach where a large colony of penguins live. These were taken at Boulder's Beach, Simonstown, South Africa.

The penguins are pretty acclimated to having humans around so I sat on my "assets" and begun taking photos to tell the story of the early morning march of the penguins.

Nothing but photos; enjoy!

Check out the slightly blurred leg showing movement on the first one...

Want to see more? Paste this link in your browser.

http://spiegels.smugmug.com/Travel/Africa/16024022_E9wBo

Cape Town, South Africa - A little slice of Heaven

2011-03-02T04:17:00.000+08:00

We arrived in Capetown after a nine hour flight @ 2 AM out of Mumbai to Johannesburg followed by a 2 hour flight to Capetown. Arriving in Africa, we were met by some obvious differences like the color of people’s skin, the language, the music, etc. and some unexpected differences like the weather (warm and windy), the lack of crowds and the lack of noise in traffic. Cars are small, clean and look new, nothing like India. There is generally a more satisfied attitude about life and what people are doing. The government is obviously trying to keep people happy by giving them jobs. At the airport, our plane was met by a ground crew of around 25 people looking to assist passengers deplaning.

I was expecting South Africa to be a bit more 3rd world like but have found it to be pretty progressive. The roads are clean, cars are clean, buildings and property are well maintained. Of course, we haven’t ventured into the “townships” where life is much more difficult so we might only be seeing a small sample. I’m not overlooking the crime issues here as there are lots of warnings about being out in certain places at night, carrying your camera in full view of others, etc. We have found many places take credit cards something that was fairly rare in India.

I am also surprised and impressed with the level of physical activity as many people are riding their road bikes on long, hilly treks. Others are seen running or kite sailing. The weather is ideal for all these activities. Staying in a guest house with a view of the East Coast of the peninsula here, we can see para-sailors and kite boarders from our room, watch the waves breaking on the shoreline and enjoy and almost 180 degree view of the water. It’s certainly a nice place to chill out for a few days before the 60 day trek north begins.

Our first adventure was to go see the African penguins this area is known for. While we were unable to find the main group, these few were entertaining.

The next day it was off to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. This is the southern tip of the African continent. Although it was quite windy at the top of the mountain at the point, the views are breathtaking and it’s an amazing thing to see. We were able to observe several animals in the wild like ostriches, eland, dassies, baboons and springbok. So here are some photos of the views and the animals…

Tip of Africa, two views…

Who lives in this house?

Dassies

Birds I’ve seen before in the Galapagos

Eland

Cormorants take flight among the water spray…

Ostrich in harsh sunlight…

Springbok (or some other antelope like bok)

The next day, it was up at dawn and a short drive to a beach area where they have some classic looking change houses in the early morning light.

After another great breakfast at the Guest house, it was off to see the botanical gardens called Kirstenbosch. This was another great experience as they have done a first class job of creating an environment for plants, flowers, trees and animals. I was able to observe some interesting animals as Susan “whiled away the hours, conferring with the flowers, consulting with the rain…” (you can name the title of that song pretty easily, I hope.)
My photographic efforts peaked with a sunbird feeding on a large flower with his made for this type of eating beak.

And then there was this guy ( a spotted eagle owl) watching the festivities…

Goodby Mumbai, Hello Africa

2011-02-24T15:51:00.006+08:00

This is my last India blog. We have 36 hours to go before we depart Mumbai at 2 AM on Saturday, heading for a 6 days in Capetown, South Africa. We have a beautiful B&B near the beach outside of town and everyone tells us what a great place Capetown is to visit. Soon you’ll be seeing Jackass Penguins on these pages and, no, I’m not making that name up.
Departing Mumbai will be a little bittersweet for us. The Staples people have extended themselves beyond what we could ask for making the life and work experience easier to take. The work has been very interesting and I think I have made some valuable suggestions and adjustments to their business that will result in some needed changes. We have enjoyed our month and the lifestyle we have been able to experience here. Most people you meet at random are nice and helpful. The streets are not as clean as you would hope and we’re told it is much better than it was. Finding acceptable food hasn’t been a big issue except at lunch on work days but somehow I manage.
So before we get to the photo journal part of this blog, let me tell you about some things I don’t care for.
1. The lack of social support for very needy people. Every Westerner is inundated with beggars, invalids, sick people, poor people, children, cripples, families, etc. There is a guy who waves his leg stump at me every day asking for money. People have some never seen before maladies like bones, finger, legs and hands missing. If you don’t pause for a minute and thank whoever you believe in that you and yours are much luckier, well, you have to be pretty callous. The local people tell me they are so used to seeing these things that mostly it goes right past them.
2. The insanity of Cars and drivers. While I thought Shanghai’s big issue is too many scooters, motorbikes, mopeds and cars all trying to go the same way creating a lot of honking and chaos, it was really only preparation for a much more difficult situation here. Two wheeled vehicles are not issues but cars do whatever they want regardless of the color of the stoplight. Couple this with the businesses that have extended their selling area to the sidewalk forcing you to walk in the streets and you have lots of opportunity for chaos at the next level. There are 40,000 taxicabs in Mumbai and no one gives anyone an inch. The taxis are inexpensive, most have no side mirrors because they would get clipped off if they were there and they are typically old, rusted, not air conditioned and uncomfortable.
3. The lack of sanity conditions. In a place like this, where people are fighting for the very basics of life, sanitary bathroom conditions and clean drinking water are not at the top of the list. Everything is dirty and you have to use Purel or wash your hands constantly. Even with that, it is still a battle to keep germs and disease away.
4. Weather – To all of this add muggy, monsoon conditions and you would have a real mess. Fortunately, I had a month free from rain or high temperatures which combined with a hotel near the ocean affording nice breezes all day, the weather was very easy to take. I’m told that it is difficult to come to work in July and August during monsoon season without having your pants soaked up to the calf.
5. Odors - I have poor vision but an excellent sense of hearing and smell, so I may be more attuned to some of these things than the average person. Certainly, every region of the world has scents unique unto itself. In France or Italy, you might hear people speak about fragrant air. In the Western U.S. there is the distinctive mountain air. Well in India, it's certainly fragrant and distinctive, but at times it can be hard to take. On the train, jammed in with far more people than anyone would say is safe, it was a raw, ugly body odor. In the back of my mind, I hear someone making fun of Nelson Rockefeller referring to these people "the great unwashed". In the office, it's the food odors that bring a gag reflex to my throat. In the taxis, there is frequently the captivating incense smell. (Of course, I always think of the Archie Bunker malaprop, "Are you burning incest?")

So let’s take a final look at some people, places and things I encountered during this month…

A macaque having meal

A few Buddhist women in a sacred cave area

We all wear our saris to the beach…

Through a natural viewing spot…

A beach vendor…

Finally, as every man knows life ends if you don’t have a remote in your hands so who cares if you live in a slum along a highway, you’ve got to have satellite TV. These people have their priorities right…

India's Golden Triangle - Delhi, Agra, Jaipur

2011-02-23T15:29:00.002+08:00

This past week we took a trip to see India’s Golden Triangle. We have lived in a place that claimed to be a Golden Triangle, which is Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange, TX. That may have been a geographical triangle but there was little “golden” about it. Other areas in Pittsburgh, Denver, SE Asia, etc. claim to be golden triangles. There is a Golden Triangle of great English Universities too. Our adventure was to go from Mumbai to Delhi to Agra to Jaipur, known in India as the Golden Triangle.

We took an early morning flight to Delhi and spent our day going through a famous Red Fort and the bazaar areas nearby. If we thought Mumbai was crazy, Delhi is the same, only on steroids. The crush of traffic, mobs of people and crazy busy shopping areas made our heads spin. We moved from the airport to the train station to drop our bags off so we wouldn’t haul them around all day and planned to pick them up before boarding our train at 6 PM. After our pedi-cab driver found the key street blocked, we struck out on foot and got caught in the crush of people headed into a huge mosque for mid day prayers. We eventually found our restaurant destination. This is where I had my first authentic Indian meal, and it was quite good. Some veggies, some naan (bread), some kebabs and little mystery meat in sauce. Pretty tasty and certainly satisfying. Then we strolled the bazaars finding some great photos of people before going to another palace area, near the train station so we would be sure to get to Agra that night. There was a Taj Mahal-like dome that posed for me.

We went to the train station to find our first travel hiccup in a while. Our four hour train ride was now scheduled for 9:45 PM, not 6 PM. We were in a remote station so we hunkered down with books and luggage and waited. A while later, while dining at the train station food spot (snacks, not Indian food), I noticed our train was now 11:15 PM. Not liking the trend, I asked what our options were. The clerk calmly replied, “There is a different train leaving for Agra in 15 minutes.” You have to realize this is 3rd world, so the ticket with the same company for the other train was not usable for the earlier train. The clerk never imagined someone would go on an earlier train even as the one we were scheduled for was being delayed. The only accommodations available were 2nd class, not first. First class is a bare minimum most of us would agree to and is not expensive ($15). We decided to take this 7:45 train and insure our arrival as we planned on seeing the Taj Mahal at sunrise. The upper berth we were given was roomy for an infant but not an American. Laying flat on my back, my right shoulder touched the wall and my left touched the rail, even so, I was happy to be on the train and headed to our destination. I was able to nap for a while, no surprise considering we walked 8 miles that day. The trip was generally uneventful and we arrived in Agra at 11:15 PM.

Up early to grab breakfast and take some photos of the Taj Mahal in the early day light before the harsh sun reflected off of everything. Most of you will remember my earlier blog comments about hating to take photos of buildings but for the Taj Mahal, I was willing to make some exceptions. One early photo shows the softer morning light…

So what is the Taj Mahal? For years, I have only known the location as the answer to a very popular crossword puzzle clue that was typically worded as, Taj Mahal site. Anyone who spent much time doing these puzzles knew that the answer was Agra but until last week, I didn’t really know much else. The Taj Mahal was erect by a mere 20,000 people over a 22 year period as a place to put the tomb of a Shah’s wife who died in childbirth of her 14th child. (Maybe she was just tired.) It has ornate marble work and is perfectly symmetrical from all four sides. The construction of the pillars causes an optical illusion making you think they are angled, they’re not. On the exterior wall, the marble is set such that as you look up at it, it appears to be a raised surface, which it’s not. The building itself houses the tombs of the Shah and his wife.

Of course, while I’m very interested in all of this and I will probably never return, it didn’t take long until my interest waned. I went off on my own to see what strange creatures I could find. Well, there are some birds that inhabit the grounds that I have only seen in the wild in Ecuador and then it was from quite a distance.

After another excellent Indian lunch and a nap, we did return that evening to try and capture sunset at the Taj Mahal and found a few interesting photos.

Agra didn’t strike me as a nice or fun place and I was happy to be leaving the next day heading Jaipur, the third leg of the triangle. This time because we couldn’t get a train ticket, we were traveling by Air Conditioned Deluxe Coach bus for 5.5 hours. We were warned not to take the non-AC vehicle.

Waiting for the bus I found a barber shop...

So off we went in this monster sized bus on these crowded streets. We would have a break in 2.5 hours, so we settled in. The bus driver was working hard to get through the narrow areas and the bus rocked around for a while before we got on decent, somewhat open roads. We observed some amazing gatherings and movements of animals, people, vehicles along these narrow streets in pretty impoverished areas. We did see many instances where cattle were walking around in the "high" speed lane on a highway. At one point, a bus passed going in the opposite direction with more than 40 people riding on the top of the bus. I guess those were the non-Deluxe AC vehicles we were told about.

About ten minutes into our drive, I heard a noise behind me that sounded like spitting. Well, the lady sitting directly behind Susan tossed her cookies and in her attempt to cover up, redirected some of the “spray” onto the back of my neck! No amount of wiping could remove the feeling. Let’s just say that made me a little uncomfortable for the two hours or so until we got to a wash room.

After reboarding the bus, we were able to make some good time until we got near town. I did notice the young man next to me (4 years old or so) couldn’t wait so his mom was helping him relieve himself into a water bottle. I guess that’s similar to what they do in Jaipur where I observed some outdoor restrooms across the street from our restaurant…

We did spend our AM in an interesting fort, where the ticket seller tried to rip me off by not providing any change. When he initially denied it, I just told him to reach in his pocket and give me money back, which he did. At the fort, there were some interesting things to see among the ruins but what captured my attention was a single bright color among the earthy ones…

And a sea of a single color among a gathering of religious men…

Besides the people we were able to photograph along the streets, we came upon these people waiting to be shipped out at a mannequin factory…

The final photo from this trip is a composite of five photos taken from the base of this temple. The result of taking these from the peculiar angle and then stitching them together in Photoshop is an appearance of a curve in the building, which is definitely not there. I liked the effect and wanted to share…

On this trip we traveled by plane, train, bus, car, taxi, electric rickshaw and pedi-cab. We walked around 28 miles in 4 days and were actually quite happy to be back in Mumbai, which I would have thought to be a silly idea a few weeks ago but really is true.

Remembering a dear old friend

2011-02-20T14:33:00.002+08:00

Since the purpose of my blog is to reflect thoughts and feelings during my time outside the U.S. in 2010 and 2011, there are times when real life intervenes and personal issues must be dealt with. This blog entry is written with a sad and heavy heart. My best friend, Dave Garrison, has lost his wife to a combination of diseases that have haunted her for the past 20 years. I’ve known Dave and Sue since 1982 and have shared many, many good times with them. Their daughter, Christine, was born on 9/24/84, exactly one year before our first child, Michael. Dave and Sue were one of those rare couples who got along so amazingly well that they seemed like one person, not two, and did it without either losing their personal identity.

They met in college (if Slippery Rock State College really exists) and were together for 35+ years. Dave and I are very similar, we laugh at stupidity and, if there’s none around, we create some. Both of our wives were named Susan and Sue Garrison had more tolerance for our nonsense than Susan Spiegel. Sue had battled diabetes her entire life and she eventually needed a new kidney or would on dialysis forever. Sue had two kidney transplants and one pancreas transplant. One kidney came from Dave, which is a rarity because a non-blood relative can only match something like 9 of the 25 possible comparison points to qualify for a kidney donation. Through mismanagement of her medication, the transplanted kidney stopped functioning. Sue’s sister donated a second kidney and all seemed to be going really well. The Spiegel clan descended on the Garrison home in December, 2006 for a visit that was quite enjoyable and will be our life memory of our families together. (Note: Those photos are on a computer in WA and can't be retrieved for this blog.) Recently, a mass or growth was discovered on Sue's intestines and liver. I guess transplant patients are more prone to rare and fast growing cancers. Sue succumbed to a combination of illnesses earlier this month. When I think about the amount of time Sue had been in a hospital in the past twenty years, it is truly mind boggling, probably one whole year, if not more. I think I have been in the hospital for three days in that time. Sue's will to live was strong and she had a lot to live for but, eventually, the incremental issues could not be overcome.

Here are the three of us in good times. The Garrison's daughter Christine is mostly out of sight with just an arm showing, Michael is on my back and Susan snapped the photo taken sometime around April 1986 when Dave had hair, I was skinny and Sue Garrison was healthy and smiling, just the way we want to remember her.

Finally, in remembering Sue Garrison, I want to post a photo I took in April 2005 during one of my visits. Sue was interested in photography but had some trouble holding her camera steady but we went out to a local park to take some photos. This hopefully humorous photo became a source of laughter for all of us and ended up hanging in one of the bathrooms in Dave and Sue's home in Plano.

Faces of India

2011-02-19T14:31:00.001+08:00

Since we’ve traveled through a bunch of North India areas recently, I thought a “Faces of India” blog would be a good way to show the various people we encountered. Generally, people were warm and friendly, asking us to take their photos, asking for photos with us and obliging our requests for photos in their natural environment. Few words and lots of photos.

Here a Muslim boy is rushing to the mosque for noon time prayers in Delhi.

A young lady reluctantly, but agreeably poses at the Taj Mahal in Agra

This gentleman was taking a mid-day coffee break in one of the bazaars in Delhi

There's this guy who looks like an Indian version of Buddy Ebsen

This gentleman is very proud to be an Indian Sikh and was overjoyed to meet an American at the Taj Mahal.

Ladies waiting for their men at the Taj Mahal...

Here's an amazing series of two photos to end this blog. These young girls were in line waiting to get into the Taj Mahal building to see the tombs inside. The first photo is on my initial approach as I asked to take their photo.

Then I smiled, showed them the photo and the barriers came down and they relaxed and showed a different attitude.

Hindu Wedding in Mumbai

2011-02-10T11:49:00.001+08:00

I was invited to a Hindu wedding by someone in the Staples office in Mumbai. While I don’t really know the young lady, I thought this would be a great opportunity to observe some rituals here in this strange and amazing place. I had no idea what to expect since the only Indian wedding I had ever seen was on a Seinfeld show. This show was famous (and infuriating) because it was a two part show shot from last scene to first scene which confused many people. This took a few viewings for me to fully figure it out. While tempted to repeat the reverse order of activity in this blog, I opted not to for two reasons. First, it’s a lot of work. And second, I’m not sure it makes any difference as things seemed to happen in random order.

While most of us are used to Jewish or Christian weddings full of pomp and circumstance (actually, the Wedding March), with specific religious rituals that happen in a solemn and specific order, this wedding was a jumble of people moving about tossing rice at the couple during all parts of the ceremony. People were constantly entering and exiting, clattering about, looking around for others, etc. It was like just another day on the streets here except for a few things. The wedding takes place over a period of several days. The bride and groom are taken through specific religious rituals in a specific order. The attire for the bride and groom is stunning. The people were very, very friendly and welcoming to outsiders. I was constantly being given prime spots to take photos and was invited onto the stage for a photo op in the middle of the service. (I thought maybe because this was day #4, they were running out of things to do and wanted some diversion.)

Rice played a key role in this day’s activities as the bride and groom were involved in various rituals where rice was placed on each other’s head. Sometimes it was a little, other times it was a pancake like thing and at others, there were overflowing handfuls. I had to wonder if this was the same rice they were serving downstairs for lunch.

A future groom

Feet are also important in this ceremony. There is feet cleaning, toe ring ceremonies, etc. I didn't buy a guide book so I couldn't keep up.

Here are two videos of the ceremony, with the usual silly commentary.

Then I saw Susan sitting here watching with great interest along with two of my co-workers on either side of her. Of course, I preferred the part where the bride kissed the groom's feet.

When we got tired of watching, we did what everyone else did, we wandered away. The plan was to go eat lunch downstairs while the ceremony rambled on. And boy, did it look appetizing when we walked into the dining area and people had their hands firmly in the rice on their plates shoveling food into their mouths. I was tempted to join in to say I did it, but there is just no way. Susan joined my co-workers and got a plate a of food while I held back my gag reflex long enough to get outside and buy a Diet Coke and wait for them.

So I go to buy a Diet Coke from a restaurant with a "take away" area for sales to passersby. In India, every retail item has an MRP, which is maximum retail price, stamped on it. I grab two small Diet Cokes from the refrigerator and walk over to pay. The guy looks at the bottom for the stamp which says RS 20 (20 rupees or $.45), he tells me it's 41 rupees for two and then asks another guy there what he should charge and that guy says 44 rupees. I give them my 100 rupee bill and get 56 rupees change and I turned to the guy who said 44 rupees and asked why it wasn't just the 40 rupees allowed by law. (This is a $.09 extra charge) He starts to blather on about cost of electricity for the cooler and some other nonsense so I just burst out laughing and say, "Dude, you're just ripping me off. The legal maximum price you can charge is 40 rupees, not 44. If you're going to rip me off, please come up with a better story. I'll pay you but next time at least give me a better excuse." There were four people who worked there gathering around and they were laughing at my comments as I walked away with another third world experience.

Dhobi Ghat, a Mumbai Experience

2011-02-09T13:19:00.002+08:00

Mumbai has many unusual sites that most people don’t see in their daily lives. I will chronicle some of them in this blog to point out how different lives can be here. One of the things we were told to go see is a place called Dhobi Ghat. Dhobi Ghat is basically an outdoor Laundromat staffed by up to 10,000 people, so its size and scope is beyond what most can imagine. The locals tell me that when the British were here they wanted locals to clean their uniforms. Since the people here were not expert enough, the British imported some people from Northern India to do this work. This began the development of a migrant community which over the years has grown in amazing numbers. Now that the British are gone, the laundry business has two locations, one for commercial companies like hospitals, hotels, clothing manufacturers and another for locals to get their clothes cleaned.

While there are some machines present for spinning clothes to extract water, much work is done by hand. Of course, since there’s no OSHA here, some of the job related injuries leave permanent marks. For our photographic interest, there are places where the saris are cleaned and the color combinations are brilliant.

Another interesting activity is the “agitation” process. Most people use washing machines with this cycle that soaps the garment, adds some water and slowly rotates the center core back and forth spreading the soap. At Dhobi Ghat, this is a manual process. They use a brush to scrub soap into the garment and then lift a small number of them and smash them against a big flat rock called a flogging stone. Not the job I’m looking for but if you can slow down your shutter speed, the camera reveals some real interesting photos. Note: None of these have Photoshop tricks in them, what you see is what the camera captured.

And then finally, a video of some of this amazing place...

Mumbai... the introduction

2011-02-08T20:13:00.000+08:00

To fully understand Mumbai, you have to know that the senses are absolutely assailed with amazing and sad sights, sounds and smells. I frequently cannot believe what I’m looking at, how bad things smell which when combined with the textures, makes me want to run away… and all of this is just at the Breakfast Buffet. Today, I actually asked Susan to sit at another table if she insisted on sampling the local fare.

Anyway, the first week in Mumbai has been a real challenge. Adjusting to the climate, the people, the workplace, etc. has been tiring so I’m happy it’s finally the weekend. Kind of weird, to be here, knowing we have only three weekends and then will leave. The commute is very interesting as is the dining so here goes the story.

We are staying at a very nice hotel on Marine Drive where we have a two mile stretch of walking/jogging path which is 15 yards wide. We actually moved from our first hotel to a different one a couple blocks away on the same street due to lack of services in the first. There are two other hotels nearby plus a couple of Western restaurants close by and many more 10 minutes walk away.

Here a video clip on the view from our room (pretty funny, I think)

The things that attack you first are the way of life, the combination of Hindi and English which is spoken here, the congestion whether walking or riding and the noise. Let me explain some of these to put future blogs in context.
The way of life is very difficult to grasp and understand. There are people and cars everywhere. There are many, many poor people, many, many vehicles and a lot of disabled or deformed people. The poverty is inescapable. You are approached by beggars when walking the streets, riding in a cab, eating in a restaurant, anywhere. And, of course, because Westerners are softer touches for the downtrodden and less steeled to dismiss it, we are all targets for them. Some of the people are really sad and have little or nothing to live on. It’s not like in the U.S. big cities where you’d expect pan handlers to drink or drug their way to escape. The people here strike me as having such meager possessions that they would use anything they get to provide for the basic needs. It is hard to constantly look away but we’ve been warned that showing money and paying one person will garner immediate attention from those on the sidelines watching. Leaving a restaurant, you are immediately approached for your doggy bag. In one somewhat amusing scene on Sunday, a child approached our car, saw Westerners and began singing “Jingle Bells”. After the intro, he moved on to made up words but it was a cute moment.
From there, let’s talk mobility. While in China, walking and riding the Metro was my favorite pastime, here, I mostly ride in cabs to get around. I have taken more cab rides in one week than I did in six months in China. The taxis are not expensive. It costs around $1.50 to go from my hotel to the office which is a 15-20 minute ride. There are 40,000 black taxi cabs in Mumbai so it is very easy to find one. Of course, it hasn’t rained yet so the taxis aren’t hiding. I’m sure when it does; you won’t be able to locate one. There are lots of motorbikes here, just like in Shanghai. While the ones here do not drive in the wrong direction like they do in Shanghai, causing total chaos, the drive just as crazy weaving in and out of traffic and filling every little gap in traffic. Couple this with roads that are severely inadequate and you have a traffic nightmare. Now take all of that and tell everyone to honk their horn at approximately, but not quite, the same moment. Look up the word, “cacophony” and that’s what we’ve got. The noise is never ending and you can’t get away from it.

Some photos from my commute...

The food is another story. I do not have a death wish so I’m not eating the local food, at all, period, end of story. I know some would say this is short sighted and I won’t get to “experience” India and enjoy it as much as others. Well, as Archie Bunker use to say whenever he was one-upped, “Goodie for you.” The food here is unidentifiable, very spicy, eaten with hands (mostly) and neither looks nor smells appetizing. Susan can try all of this she wants but I only have one set of intestines and I’m not prepared to give them up yet. There are enough Continental (Western) restaurants around to keep me satisfied. The scary thought is, my father would never try anything that wasn’t meat and potatoes, no Chinese, Italian, Mexican, etc. ever. I really don’t want to be that narrow minded, but so far, I’m standing my ground.

The last thing to cover is communications. While people here they claim to speak English, it is an interesting variation from what we’re all used to and it takes a little while to get acclimated to the sounds and accents on different syllables. The advantage is almost every cabbie has some understanding where in China; it was a small number who did. If you’re not familiar with this accent, check out Jerry Seinfeld’s old buddy, Babu Bhat. Now, I understand that Babu was a Pakistani, but the English accents are pretty close. Babu was famous for wagging his finger at Jerry and saying, “You a very bad man.”

Still to follow in the next few days are blogs on our first weekend in Mumbai and a special invitation to a Hindu wedding we attended today. It was kind of like the reverse Seinfeld Indian Wedding episode (think Peach Schnapps)

Next stop Mumbai ... with an Africa extension

2011-01-27T06:35:00.002+08:00

It’s 5 AM on 1/27/11 and there’s lots of stuff brewing here. We’re supposed to fly to Mumbai today, that sounds simple but a couple of issues:
1. We have 6 bags to ship back to the U.S. that won’t be needed for a short term stay in India, especially where the weather is over 80 every day. It’s still cold in Shanghai, not Boston cold, but not over 40 any day recently. The return of “unaccompanied” packages to the U.S. is a complicated process that requires lots of paperwork.
2. We are almost finished planning our trip after Mumbai but have been waiting for our confirmation to come through.
3. Finally, we’re lacking an Indian Visa and might not be able to board the plane if it doesn’t come through today. Not a minor issue.

Imagine the wildest (or silliest) adventure you’ve ever taken. For me, it might be my travels to Alaska or my mountain climbing in Chengdu or maybe even sleeping on the Great Wall of China several years ago. Well, the next trip will top all of those combined.

Let’s take a look at this map of Africa and see what Steve and Susan will be doing at the end of our India journey, going South to North …

That’s our next adventure…
60 days in Africa heading from Capetown to Nairobi. 50 nights will be camping in a tent.

Before you assume we’ve totally lost our minds, let me explain. This is a tour run by a company called Intrepid Travel out of Australia. This trip leaves Capetown every other Thursday so it’s not like we’re blazing a new trail and 2x per month they have a trip following the same route in the opposite direction. There are 20 people on this trip. We will travel in a huge overland vehicle using smaller vehicles for safari trips and off the track journeys.

This paragraph from the tour company says it all…
Venture out and witness vast landscapes, natural wonders, towns rich in cultural traditions and modern cities humming with life on this epic journey through Africa. Get ready for 60 days of action, adventure and authentic experiences that will create lasting memories and endless photo opportunities. Starting amid the cosmopolitan cafes and vineyards of Cape Town and finishing in the bustling streets and markets of Nairobi, travel through remote parts of the continent seeing immense canyons, verdant mountains, exotic beaches and simple villages along the way. Stop to witness the power of Victoria Falls, the sweeping beauty of the Serengeti and the awesome scale of the Ngorongoro Crater. Meet the San Bushmen, sample traditional food cooked by the Chagga people, have close encounters with mountain gorillas and be warmed by the welcoming smiles of locals in Malawi. Camp on balmy beaches in Tanzania, trek through steamy rainforest in Rwanda and see cheeky chimps at play in Uganda. These are experiences to remember forever - this is Africa Encompassed.

For more info, here's the link...

http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/UXODC

We’ve spent the last few weeks scurrying around Shanghai shopping for things we would need on this trip that we don’t have. We’re now ready for whatever India and Africa have to offer.

I’m guessing there might be a few photo opportunities on this trip. I’ve got 400 books on my Kindle and 200 hours of audiobooks on my Ipod. The trip ends on May 1st, a day which has some significance to me, (my birthday).

Next stop,,,, Mumbai, India